Pinkberry Co-Founder Accused Of Beating A Homeless Guy With A Tire Iron

Pinkberry, the chain of California-based yogurt shops that inspires cultish behavior in its followers, was co-founded by one Young Lee, a stylish 47-year-old entrepreneur with expensive taste (he apparently owns a bunch of fancy cars including a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Ferrari) who is currently a defendant in a criminal proceeding in which he is alleged to have hit a homeless man with a tire iron.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, on June 15, 2011, Lee was driving a rented Range Rover along Vermont Avenue in east Hollywood, California, with an acquaintance in the passenger seat when he spotted a homeless man in the street asking passersby for money.

“The detectives told me Lee was somehow offended by a tattoo that was on the defender’s arm, and it was a silhouette of two people in a sexual position,” Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the Central Detective Division, told The Daily Beast.

A verbal argument ensued, at which point Lee parked his car and, according to witnesses, approached the panhandler from behind and struck him in the back of the head with a tire iron. Blood was pouring down the man’s face. He ran from the attackers, but Lee and another suspect chased him down, and Lee again used the tire iron to strike the man’s arm, head, and body multiple times. During the attack, the victim recalled hearing Lee repeatedly yell, “Say I’m sorry! Say I’m sorry,” according to an LAPD search warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast. The man was later admitted to the hospital and treated for various cuts and bruises on his head and torso, as well as a fractured left forearm.

“We’re still trying to track down the other passenger and aren’t sure about the level of his involvement in the assault,” said Lt. Vernon.

In case you’re concerned about this putting a pall on your yogurt consumption, Pinkberry has taken the opportunity to distance itself from Mr. Lee.

A member of the company told Daily Beast that Mr. Lee hasn’t been involved in the company for two years, explaining that he’s uh, just sort of like an architect and style guru, and either way, they totally broke up with him:

“Young Lee co-founded Pinkberry in 2005 and his contributions were focused on the design aesthetic of the brand leveraging his architecture background. Current Pinkberry CEO Ron Graves took over the leadership of the company in 2007, bringing an experienced investor base, board of directors, management team and strategy to build a global brand. Over time, Lee’s role continued to diminish, and in Spring 2010 Pinkberry ended its relationship with him.”